Enterprise Resource Planning Market in GCC States to Hit $300 Million by Year-End 2009

By: Mitra Hooman, (8/7/2008)

 

Yet another sign that current oil prices are moving vast sums to the Middle East –the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software market in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman (the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council) will hit US$300 million by the end of 2009, according to Madar Research.  ERP spending in the GCC is expected to experience faster growth than the projected world average, which is between 6% and 9% 

Driving this growth is raising demand within the regional enterprise and SMB sectors.  The incredible cash flows stemming from the transfer of wealth the oil trade represents and the resulting high GDP growth in the region mean more organizations and businesses are being encouraged by this infusion of money to speed up their adoption of ERP technologies.

What is particularly interesting is that this appears to be a government-led development rather an organic move by the private sector.  For example, Navneet Tandon, Vice President of Raqmiyat, a Dubai-based IT company of the Al Ghurair business group, said, “Recent trends towards larger deals, particularly from government modernization initiatives, have encouraged us to continuously develop our robust solutions to address large scale projects, while advancing our brand of highly scalable offerings for small and medium-sized businesses.”  Other markets his company is targeting are the telecom, banking and retail sectors, “which are all providing strong demand for project implementation, managed services and outsourcing,” according to Mr. Tandon.  He further expects more manufacturing and trading firms to seek efficiencies by automating their back-office systems, and this demand will help company grow beyond Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE to the rest of the GCC.

Amazing what a few trillion dollars over a couple of years can do for a market.


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